1. Before You Start: Three Things Employers Must Confirm

These three checks must happen before any document collection begins. Discovering problems late is costly — it delays the entire application.

① Check the employee's Status of Residence and exact expiry date

Ask to see the employee's residence card (在留カード). Note the exact status name and expiry date. Required documents differ by status — ESHIS (技人国) requirements differ from Business Manager, Intra-Company Transferee, or Highly Skilled Professional requirements. Do not assume one set of documents covers all statuses.

② Confirm actual duties still fit the status category

This is the most common hidden risk. Duties shift over time — promotions, restructures, new product lines — while immigration paperwork doesn't catch up. Before preparing documents, ask: "Does what this person actually does every day still fall within the permitted activities of their status?"

③ Identify whether this is a standard renewal or a first renewal after a change

First renewals after a job change or significant role change are scrutinised at the same level as an initial application. If the employee recently changed companies, departments, or functions, prepare an enhanced evidence set — not a standard renewal package.

2. Company Category — Which Documents Apply to You?

For ESHIS renewals, required employer documents vary based on your company's ISA category. Larger companies submit fewer documents; smaller and newer companies need to provide more evidence.

3. The Employer Core Document Pack

Use the interactive checklist below. Required = needed regardless of category. Cat 3/4 = required for smaller companies. Recommended = not mandatory but reduces risk of additional requests.

4. Employee-Side Documents HR Should Help Prepare

The following documents are filed by the employee but typically require employer coordination or verification. HR should confirm these are complete before the employee submits.

5. Job Description: The Single Most Important Employer Document

The job description is the document that proves the employee's work activities match their Status of Residence category. It is also the document most frequently done wrong. A recruiting job description is not an immigration job description.

What an immigration-ready job description must include

• Job title, department, and work location
• Primary duties — specific, measurable, professional-level (3–6 items minimum)
• Duty breakdown by percentage — must total 100%
• Tools, technologies, or specialised knowledge used in the role
• Reporting line and supervision structure
• Why the role requires a university degree or equivalent expertise (not simple labour)
• Salary — must equal or exceed what a Japanese employee in the same role would earn

6. Consistency Audit: The Fastest Way to Avoid Delays

Immigration officers compare multiple documents against each other. Inconsistency between documents is one of the most common — and most avoidable — causes of additional document requests and rejections.

Before submitting, verify that these fields match exactly across all documents:

7. Employer Compliance Check (Social Insurance & Tax)

Since 2024, ISA verifies employer-side compliance as part of every renewal review. Issues that affect the employee's renewal but originate with the employer:

8. Recommended Employer Timeline

• 5–6 months before employee's expiry date Run the pre-flight compliance check. Identify any social insurance gaps, outstanding tax issues, or document inconsistencies. This is the time to fix problems — not 4 weeks before submission.
• 4 months before expiry Begin document collection. Draft or update the job description. Issue the employment certificate. Request financial statements from accounting. Update the employment contract if duties, salary, or work location have changed.
• 3 months before expiry — TARGET SUBMISSION DATE Complete the consistency audit. Confirm all documents are aligned. Submit the full application on the first eligible day of the 3-month window.
• During review period Respond to any additional document requests (追加書類) within 1 week. Monitor for ISA correspondence. Remind employee to get the extension sticker if expiry date passes.
• After approval Update HR records with new expiry date. Set calendar alert for 5–6 months before the next expiry. Archive renewal documents for reference at next renewal.

9. FAQ for HR Teams

Q. The employee's salary changed this year. Which salary figure do we use on the employment certificate?

Use the current salary — what the employee is actually earning at the time of renewal submission. If the salary changed significantly (either up or down), include a brief explanation letter noting when and why it changed. A salary increase requires no explanation; a significant decrease should be briefly explained (e.g., role change, market adjustment, maternity return to part-time).

Q. Our company just rebranded and changed its legal name. The employment contract still has the old name. Is that a problem?

Yes — update the employment contract before submitting. Provide a copy of the company registration showing the name change alongside the old contract if you're mid-transition. The important thing is that the officer can clearly trace the connection between the old and new names.

Q. We're a 15-person startup (Category 4). What additional documents should we include beyond the minimum?

For Category 4, consider including: a business plan or company overview (especially useful for newer companies), signed contracts with major clients or partners (shows legitimate business activity), evidence of funding rounds if applicable, and a letter from the CEO or representative explaining the company's stage and this employee's importance to the business.

Q. The employee was on unpaid leave for 3 months during the period. How does this affect the renewal?

Include a letter explaining the reason for the leave and confirming the employee returned to active employment. Confirm that social insurance enrollment was maintained during the leave period. Unpaid leave itself is not a disqualifying factor, but an unexplained gap in tax or insurance records is.

Q. Can we submit the renewal documents on behalf of the employee?

The application must be submitted by the employee themselves, or by a licensed administrative scrivener (申請取次行政書士) acting on their behalf. An HR team member cannot submit on the employee's behalf unless they hold that specific license. However, HR can prepare all documents and accompany the employee to the immigration bureau.